Unexpected Hero
by QueeneofArgylle
Summary: The war is over almost as quickly as it began and the true hero is the most unlikely person...and what happens when our hero finds a certain redhead alone on the train home...what happens then...?
1. Prologue

People all along the train were celebrating. The noise would have been heard in every town, village, and cottage they passed if it weren't for the silencing spells laid around the exterior of the train. It is hard to believe that anyone on that train was not enjoying themselves. The sound was earsplitting and, if anyone happened to stop for a moment or two (which didn't happen) pain-inducing. Spells rocketed down halls and ricocheted off of walls in closed compartments. Wizard Crackers were being pulled apart and a great, tolling, gong-like sound was heard every hour, on the hour. This was all besides the screaming, yelling, and joyous singing that created a nice, light-hearted undertone for all of this.

Whatever could make the ENTIRE Hogwarts Express celebrate so? Why, a miracle, of course. Something that nobody ever even dreamt to be possible. Everyone had resigned themselves to the coming war…and imminent defeat. But the war had been over within the snap of one boy's fingers. I know what you're thinking: Harry Potter saved the day, didn't he? But no. This is the story of a very different boy. The most unexpected and unlikely hero you could possibly dream up. That is, unless you're just strange like me. Back on track…No. Harry Potter and his sidekicks were still whispering in corners and holding regular meetings of Dumbledore's Army to prepare for the coming war.

But one boy knew that no war would actually occur and when one Draco Malfoy appeared on the last day of term in the Great Hall, robes splattered in blood, a triumphant, sinister glare on his face, and an oddly shaped velvet sack (something that looked too terribly like blood for anyone's comfort slowly seeping through the bottom of which), everyone just stared. Everyone…Except the Golden Trio. Draco was walking swiftly toward the Grand Staircase (most likely to the Headmaster's office) when he was way-laid by the three self-righteous Gryffindors, a suspicious glimmer in their collective eyes.

Draco stared them down. Nothing could stop him in this. He had a destination set and nobody, especially _those_ three, was getting in his way. They awaited his usual sneers and sarcastic, biting comments. But neither came. He just looked at them, a triumphant and almost amused look dancing in his eyes. This was not the Draco they had known. He had always had his patented, emotionless Slytherin mask firmly in place. They hesitated. A mouth opened…then shut again.

Draco nodded toward them and smiled. Smiled. Nobody, not his friends, not his family, not even his own mirror, had ever seen a smile on Draco's face. A collective gasp went through the crowd and the Three stepped aside, slowly, two mouths agape, and two brows furrowed in wonder.

Without looking back, he continued to the stairs and climbed them, graceful as a cat. Those in the Great Hall who had seen him followed, keeping a slight distance. During the journey up to the Headmaster's office, the crowd slowly accumulated more and more spectators, all curious at what was in the sack and what could ever make Draco Malfoy act so different…no…so strange…no…so human…that was it…he was human. And almost everyone there could sense it. Those that could sense it most were the Trio. They were at the head of the group trailing Draco, most curious, and most in awe. They, after all, had hated Draco with a passion for years…was that about to be changed?

A hush fell over the whispering crowd as they reached the large, stone Griffin that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office just as a group of teachers rounded a nearby corner and headed toward them.

Draco turned and, without a word, held the sack out slightly to Snape, who was at the head of the group. Snape looked at it quizzically for a moment before his eyes widened with understanding. He looked at Draco, questions in his eyes. Draco just smiled again and nodded his head once. Snape's eyes widened further, this time with awe and he looked to the sack again. Without looking away from it, he muttered the password to the Griffin and it moved aside, trying not crush anyone in the crowd. Draco turned so that the Trio could see his profile. The hand that didn't have the mystery sack in it signaled for them to follow.

The tow mouths closed and three sets of brows were suddenly furrowed in wonderment. What was happening? This had to be the strangest thing that had ever happened to them…and they had been through some crazy shit.

The three stepped onto the moving staircase behind Draco. The ride up seemed to last an eternity. Each of them tried to think of something to say, anything, but nothing would come out.

Before they could realize it, the doors to the office flew open and Draco stepped through as if he owned the place. Dumbledore looked at him, questioning but he could find no answers. He leaned his head to the side to look around Draco at the Three. But they just stared at him. Hermione managed a shrug, but they had no more answers than Draco had provided.

Without another moment's hesitation, Draco walked briskly to Dumbledore's desk and did the one thing that would finally break the confused tension in the castle. The one thing that would shock a nation. And the one thing that nobody expected someone like Draco to do. He slowly opened the sack in his hand and, with a flourish that was purely Draco, turned it over.

It all happened so fast: Hermione fainted. Ron caught her. Dumbledore jumped up, knocking the shelves behind his desk, causing a deafening crash. Harry lost all color in his face, as did Ron, making his freckles stand out. The whole room, for the briefest moment, ceased to breathe. Dumbledore turned his surprised eyes up to Draco's. Draco nodded and looked down into the dead, glassy, unseeing eyes of Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore, realizing what this meant slowly reached down and lifted the head.

The war was over. And it's hero was the most unforeseen being on the face of this dear planet. The one person that nobody would have guessed, even in their wildest dreams. A person, so unlikely, some say that the Gods themselves didn't see it coming. The hero of the wizarding world…was Draco Malfoy.

Ginny sat alone, in the only empty compartment on the train. She had put up silencing spells to block out all the noise and the door was locked to those not welcome…meaning everyone. She looked down, sighed and began to open the envelope in her lap, wondering what in the world it would contain. She took a deep breath and plunged into it. The writing was long, spidery and green. The parchment felt dry against her fingers. She was scared out of her wits.

Draco was stifled. Everywhere he looked, there was an eager, half-drunk face, begging for his life story. But he remained silent. He wanted away from them. His Slytherin mask of neutrality was firmly in place, once again. _Gods, what is wrong with these people?_ He asked, looking around him at the Gryffindors that had magically become his 'best friends' since that fateful spring day. Colin Creevey was taking pictures of him, wide-eyed with awe and the Golden Trio were standing behind him-_Just as those buffoons, Crabbe and Goyle always did…_ Draco mused.

With one last sigh and an almost imperceptible eye-roll, he stood and walked out the door of the compartment. The people in the hall, moved to either side as he passed, pressing themselves against walls, and doors, staring as he passed. When he reached the end of the traincar, he realized_…_the Trio were still behind him. He turned around and gave them a look that spoke volumes…_If they could only read minds…_ he thought with a smirk.

"I would like to be alone if you don't mind." He said, looking each in the eye, hoping they wouldn't be their usual, stubborn-as-hell selves. It was a stare-off when he came to the Weasley, but after a few moments, Ron admitted defeat by nodding and turning away, back down the corridor, Harry and Hermione behind him.

Draco heaved a sigh of relief as he slipped through the door and it swung closed behind him. He slowly, carefully made his way through the train, toward the back, hoping for some privacy. A few people stopped on their way to some errand to stare at him, but other than that, the going was fairly easy. He was in the last car, his only remaining hope…unless he just went to the baggage car…but that was below a Malfoy….he would never shame his family…A wide smirk spread across his face.

He came to the last compartment. It was deserted, with the exception of a fiery-red head, bent over a piece of parchment, and a face, contorted with some emotion Draco couldn't distinguish from where he stood. He sighed, once again and opened the door.

Ginny was deep in thought, trying to make her brain move faster and get itself around what she was reading. The compartment door slid open. Her eyes shot up and her hair fell into her face.

All Draco saw was two, sparkling golden eyes, peering at him intensely through curling tendrils of flaming locks.

Then, they both felt the train lurch.


	2. Silence

A/N I would like to thank all my reviewers…but I also want to warn you that I have no idea where I am going with this story and it will most likely be pure fluff…And I still don't know how Draco did it…and I have an idea about what was in Ginny's letter…but still not certain…just thought I'd warn you all…this will probably suck…a lot…thanks again, byez!

Ginny's eyes fluttered open. The first thing she noticed was the unbearable silence. The second thing she noticed was that the train was not moving as it should have been. And the third thing she noticed, as she swept her gaze across the darkened compartment, was the silvery-blonde head of Draco Malfoy on the floor in front of her. Please don't misinterpret, Draco was attached at the time, it's just that the only thing she saw was his head because it had darkened and he was wearing his usual black. That was one thing that hadn't changed in the past few days.

She leaned forward and looked out the window to find the sun setting behind an unfamiliar forest. The sky was ablaze with fire as the blood-red sun slowly sank behind the trees.

She didn't know how, but she had fallen into some sort of trance and was shaken out of it by a low moan coming from the floor. She looked down to see Draco lifting his head up to look around him. His eyes slowly moved upward toward her and for the second time that day, their eyes met.

"What the bloody hell was that?" came a familiar voice laced with irritation. Hermione pulled herself up off her seat and lit the end of her wand. Harry and Ron were picking themselves up off the floor where they had fallen when the train had come to such a sudden stop.

Hermione sighed and said, "I don't know but we better start looking for other people." She had noticed the eery silence first, just as Ginny had, and a shiver was making its way up her spine. "Come on then, let's see if we can find out what happened." She gave the two boys a little nudge out of the door and followed.

Ron promptly lit his wand as well and Harry followed suit. "Why don't we just find the conductor? He'll know what happened." Ron asked as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

Hermione rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and said, exasperatedly, "Won't you ever read 'Hogwarts, A History'? It plainly explains that the Hogwarts Express runs on Magick and doesn't need a conductor. Although there is usually a teacher or two on board, there were none today, seeing as how the Wizarding world is safe once again and all."

Ron mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'according to Malfoy' but the other two decided to ignore it and the three began to move toward the back of the train.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Weasley?" Draco scoffed as he picked himself up and sat across from her.

Ginny just opened her mouth and promptly shut it again, deciding it was smarter to remain civil…seeing as how he was all powerful and such. For the moment at least. Instead, she opened her mouth, once again and said, "Come on, we need to find out what's going on. Its too damn quiet in here for comfort."

He then watched, a façade of boredom on his face, as she stood and slid the door open. She turned when she was in the hallway, and beckoned for him to follow. He reluctantly stood and went into the hallway after her.

He watched as she looked both ways, weighing their options. "We should head toward the front of the train. There weren't many people back there," She jerked her thumb over her shoulder toward the few compartments that were further back than hers, "So there's likely to be a better chance of finding people in this direction." She smiled like she was proud of herself.

Draco smirked at her and said, "Give me one moment, Weasley. A few of my old friends were said to be back in that corner compartment. Let me just check it. I'll be right back."

He headed toward the compartment he had indicated before and began to open the door when her realized that Ginny was right behind him. He smiled a little to himself and opened the door. It was dark. Almost too dark. But he could just make out three dark forms on the floor, beginning to stir. He immediately stooped down to help them. Ginny watched as, one by one, they all stood. She couldn't make out their faces very well.

She saw Draco exchange a few whispered words with them and she saw them all nod. Tired of all this secrecy, Ginny lit her wand and shined it at them.

"Bloody hell, Weaselette, why did you have to blind us all? I was about to introduce you but now I can't very well see you, can I?" Draco spat at her. But his friends laughed.

"Stop whining, Draco. It isn't becoming in a young wizard of your stature." The one speaking then turned to Ginny and held out her hand, "I'm Domaris," Ginny shook her hand, taking in her dark hair and eyes. "And this is my brother, Davion." She elbowed the boy beside her in the sides and he held out his hand as well. He had dark hair, like his sister, but instead of her red-tinted black, his was deep black and instead of her deep brown eyes, his were bright blue.

"Pleased to meet you." He said, rather stiffly.

"Don't mind him, he's suspicious of everyone." Domaris told her with a sly smile and a wink. Ginny decided she liked this girl.

"I am not!" Davion scolded his sister.

Domaris scoffed and said, "Really? Remember that time you thought Mother was plotting to have us killed? In our sleep? On Christmas day?" Davion rolled his eyes and she continued, "Of course you aren't paranoid. You're just stupid."

This sent the two rolling into the hall, ripping at each other and growling. Ginny sighed, _Ah, to have had a_ fun _sibling._

The third person cleared her throat, drawing Ginny's attention back. She was a small, wiry girl but she obviously had strength. "I'm Raye!" she then shook Ginny's hand rather vigorously. "I'm a Rum and Monkey Pirate!"

Ginny sent a questioning look to Draco who sighed and said, "It's a club they started when we were all little. Of course, I was never invited, but it did seem to be fun."

Ginny almost laughed out loud at the look of remembered rejection on Draco's face. Draco Malfoy discluded? NEVER!

But her mirth was cut short when she heard the door at the head of the car slide open and Domaris and Davion stop fighting.

She grabbed Draco and Raye's hands and pulled them out into the hallway to see who it was.

A/N Thanks to all reviewers…I didn't expect to have any…cool…This chapter's a little more light-hearted so…yeah…Like I said, any suggestions are extremely welcome!

Also, I would like to have a Beta because…it would just be good to have one so…if anybody's interested….


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